Application of the Precede-Proceed Model for Comprehensive Community Assessment,Education Programming,and Evaluation in a Combat Hospital Community during the Gulf War

Abstract

The PRECEDE-PROCEED model is an appropriate framework to consider for community assessment and health promotion planning, implementation, and evaluation because of its applicability in many varied settings-including its potential for effective assessment, coordination, planning, and delivery of quality of home health care. This article addresses a military field hospital! combat hospital community during the Gulf War as it completely evolved and dissolved as a community in the desert of Saudi Arabia from December 1990 to May 1991. The capabilities of this portable, self-sustaining hospital community, transported to a barren, isolated section of the desert, were maximally challenged in this unusual setting. Building and sustaining the community in support of the hospital was as energy consuming as the operation of the hospital and the provision of care to the culturally diverse patients.